From the Deseret News: http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,155012067,00.html?
WASHINGTON - Sen. Orrin Hatch came out shooting Wednesday at a tool he says President Clinton uses unfairly to push gun control: suing gunmakers whose weapons are later used in crimes.
Hatch, R-Utah, introduced a bill to ban such lawsuits. He said the administration has joined them merely to "extort" concessions from gunmakers, such as a deal Friday with Smith & Wesson to include trigger locks and other safety devices on its guns.
"Let's call it what the federal lawsuit really is: extortion. It is an attempt to bypass the legislative process and the Constitution to achieve a gun-control agenda that the public's elected officials oppose," Hatch said.
He added such suits make "it seem that the administration is doing something" about gun violence. But "the record makes clear the administration has done little to enforce the federal laws on the books against gun-wielding criminals."
Hatch said the suit simply "masks the truth. The administration has been inept in preventing gun violence" and is making noise on the issue only for political purposes. The bill is just the latest round in fierce battles over gun control, which hit high gear last month after a 6-year-old in Michigan shot and killed a first-grade classmate.
Hatch has charged that Clinton is using outcry over the incident to push unfair gun control, and has resisted urging from Clinton to reconvene a House-Senate conference to work out differences in a juvenile justice bill amended to include many gun provisions.
When Hatch said he was thinking of stripping all gun provisions out of that bill and running them separately - so they wouldn't delay anti-gang and other issues in the bill - Clinton vowed to veto the legislation.
So Hatch told the Senate Wednesday he has essentially decided that the best political defense for gun advocates is a good offense - and his new bill is the first piece of that.
"I have become convinced that . . . it is not enough to simply oppose the gun control community's legislative agenda," Hatch said.
Instead, he called for allies to "redouble our efforts and set out to pass an affirmative legislative agenda, which safeguards the right to keep and bear arms."
Hatch called his new bill the "Right to Keep and Bear Arms Protection and Privacy Act." Besides banning lawsuits against gunmakers whose weapons are misused in crimes, it also bans any fee for background checks on gun purchasers, and requires forms they file to be destroyed once the check is complete.
Hatch bitterly criticized the administration's recent deal with Smith & Wesson. He said the company was forced into a settlement because owners trying to sell it could not find buyers with the lawsuits against it pending.
He complained the company was also given an unfair bonus once it settled. "It was announced on Saturday that HUD (the Department of Housing and Urban Development) and the mayors of Atlanta, Detroit and Miami directed their law enforcement agencies to give preferences to Smith & Wesson when purchasing firearms.
"This is outrageous. Not only does this deal undercut the Second Amendment, it undercuts the principle of competitive bidding. It creates an incentive that taxpayers will be gouged. It punished innocent firearms manufacturers," Hatch said.
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Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.
Nehemiah 4:17,18
WASHINGTON - Sen. Orrin Hatch came out shooting Wednesday at a tool he says President Clinton uses unfairly to push gun control: suing gunmakers whose weapons are later used in crimes.
Hatch, R-Utah, introduced a bill to ban such lawsuits. He said the administration has joined them merely to "extort" concessions from gunmakers, such as a deal Friday with Smith & Wesson to include trigger locks and other safety devices on its guns.
"Let's call it what the federal lawsuit really is: extortion. It is an attempt to bypass the legislative process and the Constitution to achieve a gun-control agenda that the public's elected officials oppose," Hatch said.
He added such suits make "it seem that the administration is doing something" about gun violence. But "the record makes clear the administration has done little to enforce the federal laws on the books against gun-wielding criminals."
Hatch said the suit simply "masks the truth. The administration has been inept in preventing gun violence" and is making noise on the issue only for political purposes. The bill is just the latest round in fierce battles over gun control, which hit high gear last month after a 6-year-old in Michigan shot and killed a first-grade classmate.
Hatch has charged that Clinton is using outcry over the incident to push unfair gun control, and has resisted urging from Clinton to reconvene a House-Senate conference to work out differences in a juvenile justice bill amended to include many gun provisions.
When Hatch said he was thinking of stripping all gun provisions out of that bill and running them separately - so they wouldn't delay anti-gang and other issues in the bill - Clinton vowed to veto the legislation.
So Hatch told the Senate Wednesday he has essentially decided that the best political defense for gun advocates is a good offense - and his new bill is the first piece of that.
"I have become convinced that . . . it is not enough to simply oppose the gun control community's legislative agenda," Hatch said.
Instead, he called for allies to "redouble our efforts and set out to pass an affirmative legislative agenda, which safeguards the right to keep and bear arms."
Hatch called his new bill the "Right to Keep and Bear Arms Protection and Privacy Act." Besides banning lawsuits against gunmakers whose weapons are misused in crimes, it also bans any fee for background checks on gun purchasers, and requires forms they file to be destroyed once the check is complete.
Hatch bitterly criticized the administration's recent deal with Smith & Wesson. He said the company was forced into a settlement because owners trying to sell it could not find buyers with the lawsuits against it pending.
He complained the company was also given an unfair bonus once it settled. "It was announced on Saturday that HUD (the Department of Housing and Urban Development) and the mayors of Atlanta, Detroit and Miami directed their law enforcement agencies to give preferences to Smith & Wesson when purchasing firearms.
"This is outrageous. Not only does this deal undercut the Second Amendment, it undercuts the principle of competitive bidding. It creates an incentive that taxpayers will be gouged. It punished innocent firearms manufacturers," Hatch said.
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Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.
Nehemiah 4:17,18
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